I have spent my entire life living in Kansas. God’s country as we call it, the prairie. I consider myself fortunate to live in the in the Kansas City metro area, just a hop, skip and a jump from the Ozarks. There is a big rivalry between Kansas and Missouri. The rivalry dates back to the Civil War. Now it plays out in basketball and football, the University of Kansas vs. the University of Missouri. What I find most interesting living in Kansas City is crossing the border into Missouri you can see a visual difference in the terrain. That “Ozarky feel”.

Alan Black & Bernice Knight captured that feel in “The Friendship Stones”. Though the tale takes place in 1920 I can tell you geographically nothing has changed. This is a story of 12-year-old LillieBeth Hazkit. LillieBeth is at that awkward age of innocence but forced to grow up quickly. Her father is only home on weekends as his job takes him away from the two ladies of his life. LillieBeth’s fascination with being a good Christian and growing up in God’s eyes is reflected in her everyday thought process. She decides to friend an older recluse whether he wants it or not and her persistence shows her stubborn side. On one of these journeys to Fletcher Hoffman’s land she is attacked and her Christian beliefs are challenge. The evil of others conflicts with her love of the Christian faith and she has to manage dealing with this on her own.

Alan Black is a good storyteller. I struggled with the first 30 pages trying to find the direction of the story. The story is told in 1920 sign of the times language. Fortunately for me there is a glossary in the back. As I continued with this sweet 12-year-old Christians view of the world Black throws this girl into the realm of reality dealing with factors that this lovely young lady should never have to be exposed to. Does her strong will win out in the end? It is worth your time to find out. I started out as reluctant on this book but found myself wanting more. Fortunately for me, there are more series to this story.